MOTORSPORT DREAMS
Teen has foot on the pedal
He’s still just 13, but his foot is firmly on the pedal and his eyes locked to American NASCAR.
Louis Redsaw’s tarmac-shreddding skills have been to the fore in February.
He claimed a national junior speedway title at Ministocks in Paradise in Rotorua, finished second in the under-14 division at the Oceanview 5000 race in Whanganui, and is halfway through his first season in open wheelers in the national Formula First championship.
The progress has him ‘‘over the moon’’, and even more focused on reaching his motorsports dreams.
Louis started off racing go-karts when he was 9-years-old, which helped with learning the basics of car control.
He has also been rebuilding and maintaining all his cars with his dad, a professional mechanic, and learning about how they run and how to set them up for racing.
He has run five races in the Formula First cars, and come about middle of the pack in all but one, which is good for a first season, he said.
Formula First is ‘‘way different’’ to speedway, he said. ‘‘You’re racing on a concrete track.’’
But when it is raining and gets slippery ‘‘those speedway skills come in handy, because when the back of the car shoots out, I can hold it’’.
It’s faster too.
In speedway, he’s reaching about 77 kilometres an hour, but in Formula First, that gets up to well over 150kmh on Taupo’s Motorsport Park.
‘‘I always love that feeling, of going fast. It’s good to feel all the hard work we’ve put into the car pay off.’’
Louis’ dream is to one day race in the NASCAR stock car competition in the United States.
He hopes to build up his skills, experience and sponsors while he’s at Palmerston North Boys’ High, before heading off to the US to try for the junior divisions after completing high school.
‘‘It’s good to feel all the hard work we’ve put into the car pay off.’’
Louis Redshaw, 13